Diablo

Sunday, April 19th was Wendell and Sarah's Diablo 50 mile and marathon run.  I've heard this run is very difficult and a great training run for Western States.  I decided to enter this year in preparation for WS.  First of all, let me say, I'm pretty sure Wendell enjoys making his runs "difficult".  Mount Diablo is in Wendell and Sarah's backyard and they know those trails.  So finding the most difficult ones was pretty easy for Wendell!

The weather for April started unseasonable warm.  We were seeing temps in the 90's and projected temps of 100.  This scares me, how warm will WS be?  Possibily like 2006?  

Back to the run...  

You know your in trouble at the 7 a.m start when your already feeling warm in just shorts and a t-shirt!  The run starts out with an uphill climb to Eagle Peak.


The views were beautiful:

It was a long climb up.  The terrien was rocky and technical, which is not my favorite but I need the practice.   I hit the first aid station, Juniper City feeling pretty good.  I brought my camera with me in my pack and when I took it out for some photos, I couldn't get it back in.  I ended up carrying it for miles so I dropped it off in my drop bag at Juniper City.  Of course, I regretted that decision when we got to the summit and the views were fabulous!

After leaving the summit there was a very long steep downhill and Scott and Clare caught up to me.  Clare and Scott were taking it easy in preparation for Miwok so we all ran together.  Those two are awesome!  

We arrived to North gate aid station and headed out for a 5 mile loop.  There were a few creek crossings and we took the opportunity to cool ourselves off.  My feel were pretty wet.  I could feel a blister developing.  I always tape my feet because I tend to get blisters in the medial aspect of my heels.  This didn't seem to work today.  I developed a large blister on the inner part of my left heel which caused me to run with a funky gait.  

After leaving Rock city you head down a very long 6 mile trail to Finley road.  Due to my unusual gait, I ended up twisting my ankle which made me run even more awkward.  On the return to Rock City, I decided to save it for another day.  It took me 10 hours to complete 37 miles.  That is one tough course with over 13,000 feet of elevation change. 

Overall, it was a good day.  I got to see lots of friends.  The temps ended up being over 90 degrees, so it was some good heat training and my stomach held up.   

I don't think that I want to complete my unfinished business on this course.  I can live with the ass kicking!!

Run fun...